Optical Technology Special Interest Group (OTSIG) - 7 February 1996 minutes - The availability of various optical technologies under Purchasing Australia (PA) Common Use Contract (CUC) arrangements

Optical Technology Special Interest Group (OTSIG)

Minutes of meeting held 7th February 1996.  Minutes prepared by
Sandra Henderson, Secretary, OTSIG.

The Chairman, Andrew Freeman, informed the meeting that Julie
Lenson of the RMAA has agreed to be secretary of the Group for
1996.

There were no amendments to the minutes of the previous meeting.

The guest speaker for the meeting was Rob Leach of Purchasing
Australia (PA), who spoke about Common Use Arrangements
(CUAs).

Rob pointed out that the CUAs are not contracts.  They are
standing offers for an agreed period by the vendors to organisations
who wish to make use of them.  They are aimed at Commonwealth
government agencies in particular.

A contract is formed when a buyer places an order.

The benefits of CUAs are:
. the buying process is simplified
. competitive bids can be sought from the suppliers
. time and money is saved
. there can be confidence that 'value for money' is being provided

The savings to buyers was estimated at $66 million last year, and
there are also saving to suppliers, who do not have to prepare
detailed tender information.

Over 200 groups of services and products are covered by CUAs,
including furniture, cleaning supplies, motor vehicle accessories,
information technology, computer consumables, white goods.

Revision of a CUA has a lengthy lead time, involving:
. review of the market
. review of customers' needs
. review of suppliers' goods and services
. drawing up a purchase plan for approval
. invitation of tenders, and subsequent assessment of technical and
commercial aspects
. setting up the CUA

Information on all CUAs is available to buyers on CD-ROM from
Purchasing Australia.  The aim is to eliminate the need for hard
copy of the CUA documentation eventually.

Some Information Technology related CUAs require that suppliers
be Commonwealth-endorsed, but this is not a requirement for most
non-IT products/services.

Buyers using CUAs to acquire goods or services pay a commission
on purchases to Purchasing Australia, which keeps the scheme
running.

When a CUA is set up, it is not usually possible for new suppliers
to be added until the arrangement is next scheduled for renewal.
Where goods are available on a CUA, government agencies are
obliged to use the CUA (this is a Cabinet directive).

BG151, relating to optical technology, is to be reviewed after 2
years, instead of the normal 3, because of the rapid changes in this
field.

The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) provides user
education for buyers Australia-wide to train
purchasing officers, and also has a brochure available.

The relationship between Purchasing Australia (PA) and the Office
of Government Information Technology (OGIT) was queried.  It was
explained that there is no close relationship.  While OGIT might be
looking at some similar areas, it is more of a policy body, although
it may look at particular products.  PA tends to evaluate suppliers
rather than products.

INTRODUCTIONS

Brand Hoff from Tower Software spoke briefly about TRIM.
Bill Chisholm from the Commercial Computer Centre introduced
his company's services.
Mark Douglas from Salmat outlined the range of products and
services provided by the company.
Peter Kalkman from the Attorney-General's Dept is a manager of IT
resources within the Dept.

COMING MEETINGS


Andrew Freeman appealed for interested companies to participate
in a workshop on April 9  at the ANU.  The workshop is on neural
network technology as an aid to forms processing.

The next meeting of OTSIG will be on April 3, at 2.30pm in the
Belconnen Library, where there will be presentations relating to
storage options for images.    The following meeting (5 June) will
be on the topic of electronic forms.